The Supreme Court on Monday sided with New York prosecutors and declined to invalidate the conviction of Pedro Hernandez, who confessed to killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979. This decision reverses a lower court ruling that would have likely required a new trial.

Background of the Case

Etan Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979, while walking to his bus stop in SoHo, New York. His disappearance sparked a highly publicized search and brought national attention to cases of missing children. The investigation stalled until 2012, when police learned that Hernandez, who worked at a bodega near the bus stop, had told his ex-wife and others that he had strangled a boy years earlier.

Hernandez repeated his confessions to law enforcement and was later convicted of felony murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Hernandez’s lawyers argued that his confession was false and caused by mental illness.

Supreme Court Decision

The Supreme Court’s decision stated that the Second Circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez was entitled to relief. The court noted that federal law does not allow a federal habeas court to disturb a state-court conviction based on an evaluation of the evidence.

The court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, would have declined to upend the lower court’s decision but did not explain their reasoning.

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg celebrated the ruling, stating that the Supreme Court agreed with the findings of multiple lower courts and upheld the trial conviction of Pedro Hernandez for the horrific murder of Etan Patz.

Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.